girl's name
Jennifer
JEN-i-fer
- Origin Cornish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 1,600,077
the United States
#586
2025 births
Jennifer is a girl's name, the Cornish form of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, the name of King Arthur's queen. Our data shows it held the number one position in the United States for fifteen consecutive years, from 1970 to 1984 — the longest unbroken run of any girls' name we record.
- Jennifer is a name of Cornish origin.
- Peaked in 1972, when 63,790 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 6,617 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1919.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Jennifer over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 |
| 1920s | 86 |
| 1930s | 368 |
| 1940s | 10,691 |
| 1950s | 43,159 |
| 1960s | 164,857 |
| 1970s | 583,649 |
| 1980s | 442,597 |
| 1990s | 148,527 |
| 2000s | 63,694 |
| 2010s | 15,282 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,624 |
What Jennifer means
Jennifer means white shadow, or fair and smooth. The Welsh original joins a word for white or blessed to one usually read as smooth or soft, though the second element is less certain than the first.
Where Jennifer comes from
Jennifer is the Cornish form of the Welsh Gwenhwyfar, from gwen — white, fair, blessed — with a second element generally taken as hwyfar, smooth or soft. She is Guinevere in the French romances, Arthur's queen, and the name reached English through Cornwall rather than through the Arthurian literature directly, which is why the Cornish spelling and not the French one became the modern name. It was effectively a regional curiosity until the twentieth century; George Bernard Shaw used it for a character in The Doctor's Dilemma in 1906, and it spread from there into general British and then American use.
Jennifer in use
Jennifer peaked in the United States in 1972, when 63,790 babies were registered — the ninth-highest single-year total of any name in our data. It held the American number one spot for fifteen consecutive years, 1970 to 1984, which our year-by-year series makes visible and a decade summary would hide. It now ranks 586th in the United States, 428th in Scotland, 440th in Ireland, 657th in England and Wales and 3319th in France, across 1,600,077 lifetime births.
How popular is Jennifer?
In 2025, Jennifer was given to 501 babies in the United States, ranking #586 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Jennifer is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Jennifer is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Jénnifer | Jénnifer is a rare spelling of Jennifer, written with an acute accent and recorded about 10 times, mostly in France. | 10 |
Names that peaked alongside Jennifer
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Jennifer also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Jennifer over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Jennifer
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Jennifer in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Italian
- Ginevra
Sibling names for Jennifer
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Jennifer — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Jennifer
What does the name Jennifer mean?
White shadow, or fair and smooth, from the Welsh Gwenhwyfar.
Is Jennifer the same name as Guinevere?
Yes. Both descend from Gwenhwyfar — Jennifer through Cornish, Guinevere through French romance.
How long was Jennifer the number one name?
Fifteen consecutive years in the United States, from 1970 to 1984, in our data.
How popular is Jennifer now?
586th in the United States, well down from its 1972 peak of 63,790 births.
Is Jennifer a girl's or a boy's name?
Jennifer is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Jennifer?
Jennifer has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Jennifer?
Jennifer is usually shortened to Jen, Jenny and Jenni.
Is Jennifer a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Jennifer currently ranks #428 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.